


Paint the Town Blue

by TxTiger



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol, Blood and Injury, Corpo V (Cyberpunk 2077), Drinking, Eventual Fluff, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, I love them too much send help, Judy a gay disaster, Slow Burn, V is a tough cookie...almost, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:13:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28505775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TxTiger/pseuds/TxTiger
Summary: V descends into a spiral of thoughts but decides to sweep everything under the rug again and get completely wasted at Lizzie's.Following what ended up being a very rough night she wakes up in Judy's apartment and after spending solid 40 minutes admiring the gorgeous paintings on the walls she decides to invite her to a painting session to relax a bit....it's basically a date but she doesn't want to admit that.
Relationships: Judy Alvarez/Female V
Comments: 15
Kudos: 208





	1. You Can't Kill Me I'm Alive

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! Welcome to my first fanfiction! I'm a bit too obsessed with these two and oh boi I had to do something lol
> 
> English is not my main language so please forgive me for any mistakes. I'll leave the long notes at the end!

Flesh. The air is filled with many different kinds of scents, the majority of them are far from pleasant, probably strong enough to make some people faint on the spot. The boiling oil of the food stands, piss in the corners of probably every building of the city, trash piled up outside the dumpsters, sometimes all mixed with the strong, pungent perfume coming out of various strip clubs.

  
Every single smell was well known to any citizen of Night City, every corpo, every cop, every gang roaming around the streets. Their brain constantly marinating in a sea of stenches that the unpleasantness was completely gone, just a small itch at the back of their mind. Including V.

But no, that particular night all that V's nostrils were picking up from the atmosphere around them was just gunpowder mixed with blood, rotting flesh as the cherry on top. And there, in the warm stream of the shower no matter how many times V washed her body, the stench of decaying corpse didn't seem to leave her skin. It squeezed out of the freshly harvested victims of her gun and like a hungry dog it jumped onto the woman and never let go.

 _"You're one of us, V. A corpse. You should be here with us, lying cold on the ground. And yet you still breathe, you still roam endlessly - desperately - in the world of the livings. But don't worry child, your time will come soon. You will soon return to the place where you belong"_ the ghostly voice ringing like a funeral toll constantly mauled her, haunting her dreams, taking the form of a Maelstorm, a Tyger Claw, an Animal. And then...Jackie. His lifeless eyes were perfectly engraved in V's mind, the endless guilt hit like a waterfall. She was oh so reckless, the equation in her mind brushed away one key detail: emotions. The opportunity to make Arasaka pay, to plant a thorn in the corporation side, lured her like a siren song. She knew in what kind of wasp nest she and Jackie were getting into but revenge was much, much more important. More important than money, in that instant even more important than Jackie's life. How stupid and weak the human brain is, dictated by his own system.

The merc let her body completely loose, leaning her back against the smooth wall as she slowly lowered herself to the ground, the action eased by the wet surface of the shower that carried her gently without too much noise. As her thoughts kept dragging her into an endless pit, realization pushed through her grey matter.

The stench of rot isn't real. It's just a reminder of her fate. The absolute fear of joining the ranks of the dead in such pitiful end, without honor, without a grain of fulfillness. Her actions will never be remembered. Even after the heist her name won't make it through the minds of petty little corporation ants that crawled into one office to another, just the labels of "thief" and "terrorist" will forever be stitched to her face.

Empty eyes focused on the wall right in front of her, V mechanically pulled herself into reality, shaking her head and massaging her temples hoping to ease the massive headache hammering her skull. When was the last time she had a peaceful sleep? She dug into her memories but not a single one that can be labeled as "peaceful" showed up. The frantic life of her past life left her not only without a job and the benefits of the Corpo lifestyle but with an addiction to nicotine, alcohol and the inability of falling into slumber for more than a few hours.

Annoyed and completely tired to hear herself continuously blabbering, V dragged her body onto her feet and closed the shower, stepping out of it completely soaked from hair to toes, leaving a trail of wet floor as she reached at the towel on the sink, perfectly folded into a square. Right, the other free gift from Arasaka: the compulsive behavior of keeping everything neat and shiny, the fake mask trying to hide the dirty laundry of the corporation.

After drying her hair and the rest of her body, she walked over the small wardrobe to find a comfy outfit that will accompany her for the rest of the next twenty-four hours.

"Well well, the Corpo has _some_ feelings after all. Color me impressed, I thought your brain code was only kill, finish the job and kill again" the voice of Johnny Silverhand cuts through the silence of the apartment, now his hologram materialized on the couch, feet rested on the coffee table and a cigarette between two fingers.

"Glad to see Arasaka didn't fully scramble your binary code." he chuckles blowing out another cloud of burned tobacco. Was it a compliment?

"Cut the shit Johnny, I'm not in the mood" V replied almost immediately, she didn't turn her face to look at him but Johnny knew that her glare would have stabbed him if she turned around.

"If you keep pushing your feelings down into the darkest pits of your skull all they will do is swim back up and tear you apart like a bunch of fucking piranhas" he ignored V's request to stop, accompanying his words with a few hand gestures. He won't let this discussion end without putting his personal thoughts on the plate, as always.

"Saw chooms like you back in my days. Didn't end well for most of 'em"

  
"Wow Johnny you really know how to put together an encouragement speech, huh?" V replied dryly. Sarcasm mixed with irritation dripping from her lips. She finally settled her mind on a few threads and walked by the mirror in the bathroom, cursing at the lack of a full-body one in her place.

  
Johnny threw his half-smoked cigarette on the ground and stomping it with the tip of his shoe before staring at it for a second. This whole fake world he lived in was getting more and more irritating, but he kept playing its game for some sick reason. He shook his head and appeared behind V's figure, both of their faces reflecting on the glass. He leaned against the wall before speaking once again.

  
"All I'm saying is that you gotta throw away these sunglasses sitting on your nose and think about it for a sec. Losing Arasaka? Well, that was the best thing that has happened to you in a long time and don't even fucking try to deny it. Your choom, Jackie, he's dead yes, but both of you knew what you were getting into and both of you agreed like the vaccinated adults you are. This chip thing is killing you and that's the reality, but you're still breathing right now, you have the power to search for a way to fix this mess. And if you'll run out of time at least you can say that you went down with a fight. But if you keep dragging yourself around and stuffing your guts with all the shit you can find and pretend that nothing happened then the chip won't be the thing that will flatline you. You're wasting the lives of everyone who lost this arm wrestling with this hellhole of a city."  
He spat without a pause before disappearing in one corner of V's mind, not wanting to hear the merc's opinion, because he knew that none of his words would pierce throught the woman's skull at that moment.

  
V kept dressing herself up when her personal hologram wouldn't shut his mouth. She stopped at his last sentence, the tip of her black lipstick still gently pressed against her lips. She locked her eyes with her very own reflection, but no more than a few seconds passed before continuing on applying her makeup.

No more thinking for that night. All she wanted to do is intoxicating herself with the taste of alcohol and let herself go for once.

  
She observed the reflection one last time. The only color that contrasted with her pitch-black outfit was the red Samurai logo (Johnny's influence? Probably). Tight leather pants reflecting the only light coming from above the mirror; thick combat boots of the same material adorned with a metal tip, all wrapped up with a suit jacket, ironed to perfection. Lastly, she brushed the not-shaved part of her white hair, no rebel strand decided to show up but the comforting feel of the bristles against her scalp was very much needed. Lastly, some dark makeup on her eyelids matched perfectly not only the dark cybernetic lines on her cheekbones and bridge of her nose but also the few piercings she got at the start of the mercenary career.

Once everything was in order she grabbed a big gym bag from her storage, repeating mentally the list of shops she had to visit before heading to the club.

One step out and the apartment was once again left behing. V slightly rotated her head, side glancing at the interior for the last time. How many days she will spend in the streets this time?

•••

  
Lizzie's Bar holds a lot of memories.

Arasaka's dogs walking to her, vultures announcing the downfall of all she had known for so long, Jackie standing up and hissing at them, successfully avoiding the night to end up in bloodshed and promptly sitting next to her to offer some comfort; the scent of Evelyn's perfume at their first meeting, the image of her smile drifted on her mind, withered by the inevitable course of events.

And last but not least there's her first meeting with Judy. As much as V tried not to give it much weight, the techie silently made her way into the merc hardened heart, the more Judy involved V into her life the more faint cracks crept on the surface; seeing Judy so passionate about her job, always ready to help her friends and the people in need and seeing her so frail and broken, pouring endless tears on Evelyn's corpse shook V's world more than she wanted to allow. Two plump red lips, whose smile comforted the ex-corpo every time her pupils landed on them. She's the only thing in her life that felt _alive,_ and V couldn't help but being charmed by that little oasis of wonders the green-haired woman was.

Staying around with the Mox comforted her too, the echo of something lost in time brushed her, fragments of memories that faded too quickly.

V quietly parked Jackie's Arch outside the club, she felt emotional so she decided to bring along the heirloom of her late best friend; the backpack hanging from her shoulder was stuffed with items, tingling at every step their owner took.

  
Neon pink lights framed the entrance as she eyed the two usual Moxes watching everyone entering like guard dogs. The one with the purple hair walked in circles in front of the door, caressing the handle of her baseball bat after halting when she acknowledged the new arrival. V simply nodded to greet both of them, but she hastily crossed the door, not caring what was the reaction of the two girls.

  
The music was so loud it could be heard from the buildings at the end of the road; the more V got closer to the heart of the club, the sound waves spread across her body in perfect synchronization with the rhythm, rattling her bones. Shades of neon pink and blue forced the merc's eyes to adjust to the sharp lighting for a few seconds, her gaze quickly settled on the large group of people on the dance floor, clearly having the time of their life with various drinks in hands.  
Luckily for her, there was one free spot at the bar and she wasted no time in claiming it.

  
"Evening Mateo. Busy night?" V politely greeted the man on the other side of the counter, gently adjusting her on the seat of the barstool, backpack rested on the ground next to her feet.

  
"Yo V. Yeah, some choom decided to celebrate his birthday here. Wanted to book the whole place. _It's a small party come on!_ he said. Susie didn't want any raging teenagers wrecking up the place, but biz is still biz so they made an agreement. Also, the boy was annoying, almost kissed Susie's foot as thank you." Mateo kept drying one random glass with a worn cloth before putting it back on the counter and placing his hands on its surface. V shot a side glance at the teenagers.

  
"You okay? You look like someone used your face to mop their floor" he studied the merc tired expression, her usual sharp eyes didn't emit the seriousness everyone was used to, instead those artificial pupils lost their focus.

  
"Long day" that's all the merc let slip through her lips, the dry tone clearly pointing out the unwillingness to add any more words to the statement, ready to dodge any further questions. The young man nodded silently, not wanting to overstep with empty questions.

"So what can I get ya? I'm afraid that the fella at the other side of the counter gulped the last glass of your favorite liquor" he indicated the lone drinker in question with a jerk of his head.

  
"No, thank you. Something strong enough to fry my brain cells. Whether I like it or not it's irrelevant." the merc stated, the back of her left hand pressed under the chin.

  
Mateo gave her a confused look but decided again not to pry. V was sure strange.

He scanned the various bottles he had on the shelves, a plethora of different colors and glass designs. There, a winner. He grasped an opaque amber bottle before picking up a freshly cleaned glass and began to carefully fill it with the intoxicating liquid. He then gently pushed it towards his customer.

  
V didn't even bother to look, taste or even smell the unknown drink in front of her, she grasped it and swiftly gulped half of it in one go; her throat suddenly picked up the burning sensation, forcing V to let out a small cough, the strong taste of spirit followed by a sweet sensation tickled her taste buds.

The effects took a few minutes to kick in, but as soon as V's sense of reality slowly shut down she ordered another one, along with four shots. Or five? Six? She didn't even care at this point.

  
Her eyes fell even more into trance, the deafening pulse coming from the DJ station was just reduced and muffled enough to just push everything at the back of her head. She grabbed more and more shots, gulping each one in rapid succession.

"So your big plan is to shove the entire booze stock of the club in your stomach?" Johnny appeared in front of the brightly colored shelves at the back of the bartender, carefully scanning the etiquette of the bottles.

"I earn my eddies by putting my own skin on the frontline. Whatever is your opinion on how I fucking spend them, please keep it to yourself." V's tone was harsh. Her brain allowed these only words to came out of her mouth, before numbing her senses once again.

Johnny lifted her arms in defense. "Do whatever the fuck you want, I don't even care at this point. Won't hide that I will definitely enjoy spectating this disaster you're about to become" he ended his last words with an amused smile, slouching on the top of the counter.

V completely ignored her personal ghost. She was about to get back on her feet before the last of her sober synapse reminded her of the backpack she was transporting. She grabbed it by one of the handles and handed it to the barman. Mateo's pupils jumped between the merc and the bag with a puzzled look.

"Can you look at this for me? I don't want to lose it or let one gonk even lay a finger on it" V was really struggling to keep her cool, impatient to let herself drown into numbness.

"V I'm not holding any kind of illegal shit you carry with you. No weapons either." Mateo eyed her suspiciously.

"It's nothing illegal, trust me. I just spent a lotta eddies on these and I would really love to avoid the feeling of having thrown my money out of the window. Take a look yourself if you're not convinced"

The dark-haired man took the bag and hesitated before opening the zip, the tingling sound of metal was covered by the surrounding noise. After quickly glancing at the content he slid the zip again, lightly blowing his nose in defeat.

" _Fine_ , it can stay here. But I can't promise you anything, can't take eyes off the counter, especially tonight"

V nodded, acknowledging the amount of work hanging on his shoulders those next hours. She gobbled the last shot she ordered and grasped the other half-empty glass of another type of alcohol in her hand before finally heading to the conglomerate of bodies, as she allowed herself to be completely devoured by the atmosphere. Music penetrated her ears the more steps she took, the verse sung by the echoey voice coming from the speakers brushed her heart.

_You cannot kill me I'm alive_

The majority of those drunk zombies tried to follow the rhythm, putting together an uncoordinated set of movements at the center of the dance floor. 

_You gotta deal me I'm alive_

Bodies pressed against one another, few of them locked their prey with hungry eyes, lust settled effortlessly in their minds.

_People like me get in line_

V finally settled at the core of the surrounding chaos, human figures spinning around her, multiples neon pupils fixed on her own body. She followed the herd blindly as it completely swallowed her, the spiral of madness finally caught her.

_We all know no paradise._

( **Song** : You Can't Kill Me I'm Alive - MeLoveMeAlot)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand that's the end for the first chapter. Had this idea buzzing around my mind for a while and finally decided to collect all my guts and write it. I love love love the paintings in Judy's apartment, imaging her with a brush in hand and just vibing makes me warm and fuzzy, so I had to do something about it lol  
> My writing skills are far from perfect, super apologies for that too, hopefully it will get better with time and practice.  
> It was originally intended to be a much shorter thing but I ended up writing two extra chapters. I already had the next one prepared so I decided to post that one too while I collect ideas for the last one.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! :D


	2. The Devil You See

_The room was partially lit by the neon signs outside the apartment; the aqua hue tinted the walls, mixing itself with a shade of red emitting from the lava lamp sitting on the coffee table. A woman completely slouched on the sofa drank the last drop of beer left in the bottle, then she let go of the glass on the moquette, letting a soft tingling sound when it touched a metal stud attached to one sex toy; her chocolate skin almost completely exposed by the very little clothing she was wearing._

_The man was in the same room with her, watching carefully every movement from the other side of the table. He then got on his feet a few minutes later, walking to the woman as he removed his shirt as fast as he could, throwing the fabric to the floor. The woman sensually caressed her own torso, belly to breast, pressing and playing with the latter; the man quickly topped her before_...a loud bass forcefully made its way in the room. Fuck.

Judy reached under the two big screens with her hand and swiftly tapped a bunch of keys from back and forth on her keyboard, pulling the device off her head and unplugging the virtu she was editing. Well, _try_ to edit; the chaos from upstairs disturbed her workflow rather abruptly and judging by the loud cheers from upstairs that party wasn't gonna end soon. 

She leaned back, letting the comfiness of her large chair absorb her tired body. Judy let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose and rubbing her eyes before checking the time on the monitor. 3.45 AM. Shit, it has been more than twelve hours since she sat in front of her workspace, editing and checking the large amount of smut she had to finish and deliver to one new client. Maybe it was time to head home, grab a cup of whatever drink she could find and inhale a bit of fresh air before passing out on her bed. Perhaps checking what was happening on the main floor too.

After passing through the server room and climbing the multiple stairwells of the club she was getting closer to the core of the disturbing chaos, but a feminine voice called her as she stepped on the doorway of the dressing rooms.

"Look who finally came out of her rathole" a young woman - one of the guards in charge of watching over the performers - smiled at Judy, her body leaned on the counter under multiple mirrors, one elbow rested on the surface while her other free hand kept playing with the large hoops attached to her earlobe; a shotgun strapped on her back. Two other women -dancers- one sat on the stool and the other standing with her face just a few inches away from the mirror, side glanced at the green-haired woman.

"Zoe, hey. What's up with the fuss? Did Tony fried his neurons again?" Judy returned the smile and slowly walking her way to greet the other girls.

"No, Tony's fine. One Choom decided to have a blast on his birthday right here at Lizzie's. Our beloved DJ is actually doing a great job at keeping those sack of hormones at bay"

"And Susie allowed this?" Judy's expression was beyond confused. Zoe simply shrugged.

"Yeah, had a lotta eddies on him, enough to convince our boss. Plus responsibility is on him so if one useless tiny thing breaks into pieces he has to say goodbye to his birthday money. Oh, by the way, your beloved merc is here, and she's having one hell of a night" a devilish smile ran across Zoe's lips as she concluded the sentence with a chuckle.

Judy's ears perked up. V? Here? Was she in trouble or she just had biz to finish? And why suddenly her heart started racing? Her thoughts stirred in her mind as fast as ever. She parted her lips, letting out a murmured "Oh, ok" doing her best to brush aside her inner agitation, a shade of red crept on her cheeks.

"Come on girl you ain't fooling anyone here, we've seen how you talk and look at her. You got it bad. Real bad. Go and meet her on the dance floor, it's your chance. If you manage to have a conversation with her at least, she's a total wreck right now. Didn't see her much but fuck that woman is a goddamn sponge." Zoe shook her head in disbelief.

That...didn't ease the frown Judy had plastered on her face. The V described by the guard didn't quite match what her memories were telling her. V was a calculator, not the most extrovert person you can find; whenever she had the chance to speak she always picked her words with surgical precision, clear traces of her past lifestyle. Her stern and cold attitude left a lot of questions, but she wasn't heartless mind you. When the techie called her to blast their way through the scavengers' hideout to save Evelyn and called her once again to put up a plan to turn Clouds upside down, V was always there, never hesitated to offer her hand and gun for the better. It took a while for the merc to be completely at ease in Judy's presence, soft genuine smiles slipped in a few conversations, concerned questions. The sweet, loyal side of the merc quietly came out and the techie saw the cracks on the wall V put around herself, only to reveal a small, broken person that swept her weaknesses under the rug; a true enigma, and Judy couldn't help but be sucked into her mystery, into her charm.

Two snapping fingers right in front of her nose brought Judy back into the real world, Zoe sighed once she finally got the techie's attention, placing two hands on her shoulders and rotating her body 180 degrees, lightly pushing her out of the room. 

"Yes you're worried and all, now please go and pull your princess out of her slumber, you're making me anxious for fuck's sake." the guard teased her playfully, pushing her one last time before closing the door.

Judy smiled, shaking her head while she dashed through the corridor, passing all the BD rooms filled with horny customers. Purple lights hanging against the wall swallowed her figure along with other three people standing idly, just chatting and commenting about the great party.

Well, she could finally see what was preventing her to work in peace: teenagers. Wonderful. She directed more steps toward the bar, but she halted midway when she recognized a familiar half-shaved white hair in the middle of the crowd, hidden behind a few dancers. Judy locked her pupils in that particular spot, cursing and mentally pushing away the obstacles obstructing her view. Luckily a few minutes later half of the crowd spread throughout the room, various colored neon flashed over the mass in flawless sync with the tune booming through the speakers, in the blink of an eye they all snapped into one shade: red. The techie's eyes widened, her heart stabbed with thousands of needles. Cybersex from Trevor Something playing in the background.

V's body wrapped in pitch black threads was pressed between two random girls, all three of them seemingly bouncing to the rhythm but none were coordinated enough to label their movement as "dancing", more like grinding each other. The merc's black lips smashed against one of the girl's mouth in a sloppy, absent kiss. Judy's body told her to turn her gaze away, but for some masochistic reason, she kept watching. After a couple of minutes -that felt like an eternity- the two she was spectating parted their lips, leaving a thin string of saliva connecting their lower lips together one last time. The girl smiled, V turned her head just enough to lay her eyes on the green-haired woman on the other side of the dance floor.

Judy froze. V's glare was...strange. Absent artificial pupils directed toward her, but the merc didn't have any type of reaction, probably her brain failed to recognize even whoever was in front of its eyes, it was like her soul was completely sold to the glass of alcohol in her hand. V pulled her lips into a devilish smile, letting out a twisted expression, the inner devil waiting to drag and devour everything in its sight. One hand reached forward, pressed between the girl's breasts pushing the body away to retrieve even just an inch of personal space. V managed to push her way out of the crowd, staggering and following the path leading towards the bathroom; a group of three guys watched her like hawks and began following the drunk white-haired woman, leaving a five-foot space in between.

Judy's mind was spinning at top speed, jealousy and heartbreak poured from her eyes but as soon as she spotted the three goons she collected all her mental strength to push away the copious amount of thoughts her mind was throwing at her and bolted in direction of the bathrooms, making gestures toward two guards

•

The sight was completely blurred, muscles not responding correctly to the electric impulses of the brain. V dragged her limbs to the bathroom as fast as she could, roughly pushing away whoever stood between her and her objective.

"Congrats for temporarily pulling out the stake you have up your ass, you know how to have some fun." Johnny appeared right in the doorway.

"Fuck off" V drunkenly spat out before bolting to one of the toilets and violently spill out the content of her stomach, maybe eating something before emptying half of the bar's stock would have been a better move, but it was too late to think about it. Once she got rid of the toxic waste, her senses slowly started to be active again, she got back on her feet and stepped toward the sink leaving the toilet to automatically flush itself. Cold water streaming out of the tap and splashed on her face helped a lot, the addition of something to cover the terrible stench coming out of her breath would've been the cherry on top but you can't everything in life, right?

"Well look at that, you got company" Johnny's voice and the protests of whoever was in the bathroom with her made V's artificial white pupils yank at the mirror, showing her drunk reflection along with three other guys full of dashing colored threads and cybernetics, six eyes fixed on the tired woman in front of them. The one in the middle with completely shaved hair crossed his arms and spat out the first angry words.

"Think you can have fun with my chick under my nose, huh _dipshit_?" the man threatened as V rolled her eyes slowly turning to face the guys behind her, smugness pouring out of her expression.

"I don't think I ever saw you in my entire life. Plus, it's rude to talk to someone without introducing themselves. Mom never taught you manners?" Okay maybe _that_ wasn't the best set of words to use in this type of situation, but she wasn't anywhere near the mood to talk herself out of the current mess, plus her mind still too much clouded to deflect any incoming hits, mentally preparing to the furious beatdown it as about to crash on her.

"You-" the guy's pupils lit in rage as he furiously clenched a handful of V's shirt in his fist, landing a first punch on the woman's nose and upper lip, forcing out a copious amount of blood out of her nostrils. The merc let the pain sink for a split second, partly thanking her booze intoxication for taking away half of it, oddly enough she directed a bit of her gratitude toward her assaulter for slapping her brain cells out of their torpor. 

"Say that again and I'll smash your soft skull into tiny bits, not even your ripperdoc will know how to fix ya." another threat, the other two goons silently watching.

"Y'know..." V softly chuckled, a smug smile plastered on her mouth, revealing bloodstained teeth. "I think it's time to change girlfriend. Your chick enjoyed my tongue in her mouth a bit too much, had to push her away cuz couldn't take her hands off my ass." the chuckle was louder and louder until a straight up psycho laugh jumped out of her lungs and back and forth against the walls of the bathroom.

Johnny, who decided to stay quiet and watch the scene unfold, laughed right after V and shook his head. "Oh, can't decide on whether you got balls or you're just a massive gonk, but this is going to cost you a big deal."

That was the last thing V heard, the guy lost control and grabbed a chunk of white hair directly to the scalp, moving the woman's head like a puppet and launching her skull towards the edge of the sink. The numbness was not-so-conveniently gone in those crucial seconds, the impact was worse than V imagined. Sure, she got shot multiple times, had a knife planted on her side once, the scar on her left cheek was courtesy of a thug with a machete, now the excruciating pain of getting your head bashed on a hard and sharp surface sat almost at the same level.

A deep cut erupted from the shaved half of her skull, shades of red painted the sink and created a puddle on the floor in mere seconds as her body fell almost lifeless to the ground. She was right on the edge of passing out, just enough to see her assaulter not yet satisfied, his body language threatened to land more fists on her face. One of the goons noticed his friend slipping out of control and quickly placed his hand on the guy's shoulder to stop him; he parted his lips to say something but words were stolen by someone else.

"That's enough! Hands up of I'll blow your skull to bits!"

The bathroom door suddenly opened, three feminine figures standing in the doorway, two of them pointed shotguns to the guys' heads and yelled orders mixed with threats to open fire. The third figure calmed V in an instant, she could recognize the black overall and those green hair everywhere.

Judy widened her eyes in horror at the sight of blood coming out of V's head, dashing towards her and sliding the palm of her hand on the back of V's neck trying to see how bad the wound was, the other hand rested on her cheek, thumb instinctively caressing her skin.

"V! Fuckfuckfuck. Hey, stay with me okay? You're gonna be alright, we'll patch you up." words came out too quick between one anxious breath after another, combined with orders directed toward whoever was behind her. V couldn't fully understand what the girl was saying. She softly looked at Judy, completely defeated.

"Judy..." she whispered before completely passing out.

"Ok choom, I'll take the wheel from now on. Gotta clean up your mess" Johnny stepped at Judy's side, pinching the bridge of his nose and silently making his way to take control of the merc's body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, that was a lot haha. Don't worry, chapter 3 is going to be full of fluff =w=


	3. Like a Missile [Interlude]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Title after IAMX song - "Missile"]  
> Welp, I ended up writing a bit too much so I broke this chapter into two parts. Consider this as an interlude...yeah. (ーー;)

_"This is V. She's here for that BD roll. And V this is Judy - best braindance editor I know"_

_"Enough already, gonna make me barf."_

_Evelyn stepped out of the way to make room for the new arrival. Another woman revealed herself into the cold light shining above the tech room, white hair and pale skin in complete contrast to her black outfit._

_She got closer to the BD editor, who was sitting on a large chair in front of multiple monitors and a device wrapper around her head, waving her gloved hand into a string of motions, touching invisible objects._

_V straightened her posture and gave the green-haired woman a half, formal bow. V bit the inside of her cheek as soon as she realized what she did, six months weren't enough to clean her behavior from Arasaka's parasite, blending in a totally new environment was something she surely had to keep working on. The thought was brushed aside._

_An ex-corpo, no doubt. Judy shot a puzzled look to Evelyn, her long time friend didn't need to hear words to know what the other was thinking. "where the hell did you find this one?"_

_"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Alvarez." a soft, velvet voice came out of the woman. A shade of red crept on Judy's cheekbones uninvited, eyes instinctively studied the merc from head to toe. There was no shadow of doubt that she was extremely attractive, well-mannered and overall way too elegant to be labeled as "mercenary"; it was certainly an odd sight, usually whoever called themselves a merc had either the "I'll fuck yo bitch" attitude or the looks of who just crawled out of the 4th Corporate war, for what the techie saw at least. Not a people person, remember?_

  
_Curiosity began to crawl into her mind like a worm in a juicy apple, mixed with a tinge of suspiciousness but she quickly brushed it aside._

  
_"Come on Judy she's not the first or last chick with a sex appeal up to the roof that you'll see in your life, focus." her own self rose from slumber just to give her a slap on the face._

_After all, she was just another walking corpse waiting to be finally put on the ground, no need to give too much importance._

_"Just Judy is fine."_

•••

  
"Wonderful, I honestly expected to get caught up in some shit like this but I certainly did NOT plan to play nurse with this gonk." 

  
Susie spat with an irritated voice, one hand rested on her side and the other pinching the bridge of her nose, head shaking in disbelief. And worst of all? Those three thugs weren't even part of the birthday crowd in the club; when one guard stormed in her office to give a quick update regarding the unfortunate situation she began to mentally write the huge rant she was going to drop on the teenager's ass, but she shredded it to pieces when she learned further details. Well, one fresh medkit was gone and no extra money in their pocket.

  
Two other guards with guns in hand stood behind a worried Judy, who refused to unglue her eyes from V's dormant expression. The injured woman was successfully dragged into Susie's office, away from the crowd and loud noise, and as quickly as possible, then can two guards - one of them was Zoe - yanked open the medkit, promptly cleaning and disinfecting the merc's bloody laceration at the best of their abilities. All Judy could do is temporarily stop the bleeding with a piece of cloth.  
Mateo joined the girls for a brief moment, checking on V and leaving her gym bag next to the couch before returning hastily to his unguarded bar. 

  
"Guess this needs to be stapled or something, worst is passed but still a ripperdoc's hand is needed to finish the job" Zoe gave one last look to the wound on V's scalp before standing on her feet, wiping her hands with the last clean corner of the piece of fabric Judy was using as temporary medical cork.

  
The techie followed her hand hesitantly leaving the white strands of the injured woman on the couch.

  
"I'll take her. Luckily I brought my van with me tonight. I just need help with lifting her up becaus-"

  
A sudden groan cutting all conversations in the room made all the girls snap their heads in its direction, followed by a frown and multiple blinks of eyes in surprise.

  
V, with one medium segment of her scalp lacerated that kept one thin stream of blood, rose from her slumber and began massaging one of the temples, groaning and gritting her teeth.

  
"For fuck sake, this was a bad idea." she murmured to herself. Oh, no scratch that. HE murmured to himself.

  
Judy launched herself on the woman, hands grasped the merc's shoulder and arm, still very much confused and worried. She couldn't decide whether to sigh in relief or land a loud slap on the injured girl's cheek, just to make sure she understood how stupid she was.

"V! Hey now take it easy okay? You may be stubborn but your skull isn't as thick as you think." in the end she decided to curl the tip of her mouth in a smile, relieved.

  
V stared at her for a split second and leaned toward the techie's ear.

  
"Try again, sweetheart."

  
The way those words came out of the merc's throat, accompanied by a soft amused chuckle...that body wasn't V, it was Johnny. Suspiciousness filled Judy's pupils, if she couldn't detach her sight from the merc before she now completely glued her own two eyeballs on her face. She had a lot of questions but decided to see how the event unfolded. Johnny tried to ignore the massive headache, his conditions luckily prevented him to experience the full pain treatment V was gonna feel later, but still, the echo of it was strong enough to not be ignored. He rose on the body's still weak feet, giving one good general look at the unwanted crowd in the room.

  
Susie blinked and the other guard followed. Zoe frowned deeper, she couldn't help but giving an admiring look at the woman. Only 10 minutes had passed and she was already on her feet.  
"Well uh, guess your problem just got solved!" she took the gym bag and handed it to Judy, softly tapping her fingers on the back of the girl's hand. "You better go now, that wound won't close itself." a sneaky grin brushed her mouth. Judy noticed and shot her a look, silently mouthing _"Are you serious right now?"_.

  
Johnny half ignored whatever the others were saying, he just wanted to get the hell out of there as soon as possible; the night was fun but damn even he felt the much-needed rest the body was demanding, which was quite odd per se. He was about to grab Judy and drag her outside, but muscles stopped themselves to leave space for a tiny little voice that whispered in his ear, pushing him to do the right thing.

  
The rocker boy rolled his eyes and gave in, facing Susie and the two guards, bending his torso in a slight bow as his gaze met the floor.

  
"I'm deeply sorry for the trouble Susie and thank you a lot for the help. I will make it up to you I promise."

  
Johnny was and will always be a rocker boy but he could easily chase a career in acting, that tiny little snippet of sentence sent shivers down Judy's spine. It was an almost immaculate interpretation of V's manners, maybe the time he spent with her head influenced him as much, for someone who may not know the merc so well that little action was. For someone who perfectly knows their condition, it certainly was creepy.

  
"It's fine, not the worst that has happened here. Now go and fix that thing please." Susie waved her hand and sighed in defeat, not wanting to touch the discussion any further, she still had a lot on her plate even after the troublemakers stepped out of the club.

  
After an exchange of brief goodbyes, both Johnny and Judy were outside in the parking lot, the night was fortunately warm but the sudden change of atmosphere made both of them shiver a little. The man swooped the bag from the techie's hands who was struggling to hold it.

  
"Jesus, what the hell is inside that. It's heavy as hell." the mysterious items in the bang tingled once again. Guns? Ammo? V's secret collection of porn? She kept guessing, it was unquestionably rude to snoop in the merc's stuff but curiosity poked in her head as annoyingly as it could. 

"I have some questions about it myself." Johnny murmured, taking more steps toward Jackie's Arch. Judy on the other end was rummaging through her pockets to find the keys to her van, not noticing the growing space between them. As soon as she heard the roaring engine of the bike she turned around in a heartbeat, frown and surprise mixed on her face.

"Absolutely not, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" The techie hoped her voice was loud enough to cut through the loud engine and stop the idiot on it. She managed to get his attention and she was only rewarded with an annoyed look on Johnny's side, eyebrow crooked and not-so-mentally-prepared for an argument, but he held his tongue.

"Do you really think I will let you ride on a bike all the way to the ripperdoc? What if you lose control, faint or even worse and you smash V's face, or god forbid that bike, against a wall? I'll tell the others inside to put the bike somewhere safe, you come with me in my van."

Johnny's expression was far more than annoyed now. Hangover, with a massive headache plus an open wound and now a woman yelling in his face? Was he suddenly back in 2020 or what?

"Oh, you're worried that I will damage this pretty little face you have a crush on?" Judy was about to bark back but she was caught off guard, thank god the dark atmosphere hid part of her blushing. "V may be blind on this but I have eyes too, chick. Look, it's just a cut, V has been through worse shit if you recall. Plus, Vik is not too far from here or V's apartment. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a hole in this meat exoskeleton that I'm controlling that needs to be closed asap." all the techie did was reply with a scoff and bolted to her van.

" _Fine_! Do whatever the fuck you want, but if V ends up in another mess I will reach you into your virtual shell and land a good punch on your face"

" _Fine_ "

They both yelled "Fine" one last time. The bike was already hitting the road and fading in city lights; Judy got into the van with every nerve of her body on the edge, one quick movement and the engine was awakened but she put it to slumber again a minute later. Defeated, tired and with thoughts buzzing in her head like an orchestra, she linked arms on top of the steering wheel and plonked her forehead on top of them, sighing in defeat. Her mind rewinding recent events at 2x speed. _In what other mess you're getting into, Judy?_ one voice discerned itself from the chorus and she instinctively listened. The echo wasn't wrong, that's the painful reality. The techie's love life never has been roses and rainbows, one mistake after another, Maiko sitting on a throne at the top of the pyramid. An ex-corpo with a special ability to get into one trouble after another, who poked Arasaka in the eye - probably for revenge - and had the digital ghost of a terrorist in her mind who had the ability take control of her body, best winning prize for barely getting out alive of the disastrous heist; on top of all that, her mercenary career threatened to flatline her way before the clock forced by the biochip would reach the end. Not the best suitor for a lover, eh? But what could she possibly do, completely cut her out of her life? Ignore V calls, avoid eye contact when she drops by her apartment or Lizzie's, gifting her with some items she found while on a mission? Yeah, not easy. Not easy at all. She kept driving, debating with her imaginary copy sitting right next to her. Well, it wasn't so hard to understand V and Johnny's dynamic after that.

Judy finally was home, she swore she parked her van in the worst way possible, but of course her mood stopped her to go outside her apartment door once again. Her body let itself go and roughly ended up on the bed, changing clothes was a big struggle in that moment, but she made the effort. Well, other pieces of clothing soon to be added to the enormous collection of dirty laundry waiting to be washed in the bathroom.

_Ring_

_..._

_Ring Ring._

_"No, god please have mercy"_

_Ring Ring Ring._

_"Whoever you are please go away, I'm asleep"_

_Ringringringringringring_

_"OF FOR FUCK SAKE"_

Peaceful rest was ripped from poor Judy once again. Ready to unleash a storm on whoever was outside her apartment, she dragged her limbs to the door but not before grabbing a metal baseball bat she hid in her room, you can never be too careful right? She rested her back against the wall, grip on the bat tightened and ready to pounce even at the faintest sign of threat.

"Nobody told you that waking people at half-past four in the morning is rude?" her voice full of sleep cut through silence.

"Open this fucking door, dammit." V's voice. Or Johnny.

Judy opened the door in a heartbeat. V's body was outside, leaning against the wall with an arm, the wound on the scalp freshly stapled. She wasn't quite sure who was in her mind though.

"What do you want now? Will you let me sleep tonight?" _oh please don't be V, please._

V -no, Johnny -quirked an eyebrow the moment he noticed the metallic melee weapon the girl was holding. He sighed, his glare dropped on the floor and jumped from one dirty stain to an irrelevant crack in the wall, focusing on something else, _anything_ else as he forced himself to let out a few words.

"I...I don't want to leave V alone when she wakes up. Can we crash here?" he gave no further explanation.

The techie's deep frown disappeared, she silently admitted the sweet gesture coming from that parasite. She gathered, from some bits of information V let out, that the relationships of the two tenants haven't been the most loving one, but that tiny gesture potentially meant that the first foundations of an unusual friendship and mutual care were already on the ground. She stepped out of the way, lowering the tip of the baseball bat to the ground and silently inviting Johnny in.

"I'll grab a pillow and a blanket." Judy swore she heard a very low "thank you" coming from the rocker boy.

With everything set up, they both bid goodnight to each other and the green-haired woman crashed the bed once again, without interruption this time.

•••

Mornings for Judy Alvarez were all the same, stuck in an endless cycle of routine. Get up, have breakfast (maybe), check for any new messages and organizing the day on how much work she had, alternated by random errands. But that particular morning, the downfall of her routine began with...a simple smell of coffee tickling her nose. Her half-naked body was tucked under a blanket she didn't really remember, her brain trying to collect and piece together all the memories she needed to avoid chasing the intruder out of her house; her body shifted a few times, sinking one last time into the comfiness of the mattress before getting up on her elbows and lazily pushing her legs out of the bed. As she walked outside her room rubbing the back of her hand against one tired eye, she caught V's figure standing right next to the coffee table, her white pupils fixed on the large blue octopus Judy painted a few years back. Another quick glance to the kitchen counter and she eyed a delicious sandwich just waiting for a bite and a cup of coffee.

V's ear twitched a little when she heard the muffled sound of steps behind her. She turned her head around, instinctively giving the sleepy girl a soft smile, her recent wound became visible.

"Hey Judy. Good morning. I took the liberty to make you breakfast, I hope that's okay."

Oh how the techie wanted to get used to seeing that woman in her apartment, caressed by morning light and the smell of freshly made breakfast in the background as the cherry on top. She quickly snapped a mental picture of the moment before returning the smile, ignoring the explosion of butterflies she had in her stomach. Her expression then briefly became grim. The images of the night before involving the merc suddenly hit her in the back of her head, they were still engraved into Judy's mind. She pulled a smile once again, trying to not think about it.

"Hey, look who is finally awake. How do you feel? And oh, you really didn't need to make breakfast, don't stress yourself." her sleepy tone was heavier than she wanted.

"No, please, it's the least I can do after everything that happened. Johnny filled me in with the details, I owe you one." a sigh "I still feel like shit in all honesty, my stomach is giving me one hell of a time but I'll be fine don't worry. I have one funny story to tell now too. _The time that I woke up with two massive headaches at once_." She chuckled at the last sentence, Judy's heart absolutely didn't want to be tortured in the morning but here we are.

"What did Johnny tell you?" she was rather curious, let's admit that.

"That after the...accident you and the other girls tried to patch me up. You insisted on bringing me to Vik in your van, dragged this sack of potatoes around and on your couch because you were worried and didn't want to leave me alone. He helped with the bag. I...I seriously don't know how to thank you. I have to make it up to the others too."

In all honesty yes, Judy was still theoretically in the realm of dreams but she wasn't the one who got a nasty concussion, that story didn't quite match reality. _Johnny you fox. Fine, I'll play along._ She automatically smiled with a very visible blush on her cheeks, waving one hand to V's face, the other brought the delicious cup of coffee to her lips. V tried but failed at not staring at the girl like she was the most beautiful thing she ever laid her eyes upon. Sleepy voice and messy hair are in fact one recipe of absolute cuteness. Those lips, those big sweet eyes, those breas- _V no, stop staring, it's rude_. The merc then mentally slapped herself, gaze returning frantically to the fantastic painting on the wall. One of them at least.

"Did you do this?" V has been in Judy's apartment a couple of times before, but it was the first time she had the pleasure to stop and admire the artwork.

"Yeah, a week after my grandparents moved out of Night City. Had so much fun that for two whole weeks I did nothing but decorating these walls. It felt more like a home after it, filled for a moment the empty spot _abuelos_ left." the techie let herself be pulled by memories, she didn't notice V roaming around the house.

The white-haired woman carefully studied every painting her eyes scanned. Those jellyfish silhouettes floating in blue patches emanated some kind of peace, she brushed her fingers delicately on the rough texture of the wall hoping to be part of the world behind them. Her mind automatically pieced everything together with the box of used wetsuit she saw in Judy's room.

"You love the sea, don't you? You dive a lot?"

"Mhm, I usually take some free time to dive, love it to bits. It's a different type of world, full of mysteries. No guns, gangs, corporations, conspiracies or anything like it. Just you, silence and unknown wonders waiting to be found." There it was, the heartwarming aura Judy irradiated. V listened carefully, drinking every drop of information the other woman was leaking out of her lips. She wanted more, to know every corner of the techie's mind, her insecurities, her passions, her fears, what she loved and what she hated. Dive into that ocean like the jellyfishes on the wall, naive and carefree. _What are you, Judy Alvarez?_

V walked right in front of her kind host, carefully taking her hand, two different types of body heat contrasted. They locked eyes.

"Do you have any plans today? Can I invite you to join me for the day?" the invitation slipped out of the merc's mouth in the blink of an eye, not letting rationality from stopping it. Surprisingly enough both of them seemed startled by it.

Judy could feel her face and palm almost burning, heart racing like the fastest of sports car. Did V just asked her out on a date or was she still sleeping in her bed, living the whole moment like the most preem BD her mind could fabricate? She felt the urge to pinch herself somewhere, _anywhere_ on her skin, but resisted. Her tongue tied itself but V's eyes filled with anticipation managed to kill any type of stutter in her voice.

"W-What for?" well _no_ that wasn't her first choice of words, but brain and mouth's connection were temporarily severed so she did her best.

"I..I found an almost empty wall in Kabuki while running some minor errands a few days ago." Embarrassment made V pause for a moment, her gym bag was silently judging the conversation from the couch. She simply walked in front of it, taking the zip with two fingers and sliding it to the end of the rail. "Thought I could probably ease my restless mind for a bit with an old hobby of mine. Y'know, just have fun splattering the concrete with something other than blood. " metallic tingling ringing in the room. Judy's curiosity was satisfied, eyeing the items from the kitchen counter. Spray paint cans, some brushed in different sizes, a paint roller and what looked like some jeans sticking out. That... wasn't the type of iron she expected to find in a merc's bag.

"Oh, you didn't quite strike me as an artist type." curiosity decided to nestle in the Mox's brain a while longer.

"I'm not. Not anymore at least. It's just something that I used to do when I was younger. Had to keep my temperament on a leash somehow, this stuff helped me on rough days." if someone else was in the room with them, they could hear a faint _crack_ echoing, a tiny whimper coming out of V's wall. A small crevice, an opportunity for Judy to peek inside, but concrete was still too thick to pry it open with bare hands just yet.

The corners of Judy's mouth rose into a soft smile, she just stood there, her heart warm and fuzzy. "Sure, sounds nova. Could use a bit of vent myself. I still have some old used brushed around here, somewhere. Lemme just search for them and we can go." she said, disappearing in her room again, followed by the commotion of drawers opening and closing.

V was...surprised, honestly she thought her sudden invitation would be declined, but her heart skipped a beat when Judy proved her wrong. One of her hands rummaged in the bag, plucking out the worn jeans overall and the black tank top she brought along the other items, loudly asking for permission to use the bathroom to change clothes to her host. She disappeared in the said room when Judy replied, giving her the green light.  
The green-haired woman found a box of used tools in the meantime, threw everything into one random backpack and put on the first clothes she found - the ones from the day before, sadly. She roamed around the flat in worry when she heard no more sounds coming from the merc, knocking on the bathroom door and calling the other woman, asking if she was alright. No answer. Fear increased its volume and Judy opened the door without hesitation. V was kneeling on the floor, collecting pants, shirts from the laundry pile next to the washing machine. Dressing up took nothing but mere minutes for the merc, but looking at the castle of dirty laundry was much like hearing nails scraping on a chalkboard, she HAD to separate white clothes from the colored ones and prepare everything for a good wash, it was a matter of life or death.

The techie's muscles eased, lungs blew air out of her nose in both amusement and relief, resting her body on the edge of the door with crossed arms. "Oh, didn't know I hired a personal butler to clean my laundry and cook me breakfast."

V jumped out of her skin, standing up so quickly that she almost fainted by the low blood pressure, stiffening her body into a military posture as she hoped the furious blush she felt on her face wasn't so visible.

"I-I am deeply sorry about that, I absolutely wasn't snooping through your stuff on purpose - but y'know I thought I could help you a little bit more...for the hospitality...yes." her eyes shot upward toward the ceiling, avoiding Judy like plague, black polished nails lightly scratching her jawline hoping to survive those frustrating minutes of pure embarrassment and guilt. Her host just stood there, smirking and taking in every single detail of the scene. She liked - no, _loved_ \- seeing V in that difficult position. The big bad merc blushing and twitching uncomfortably like a kid caught with hands in a cookie jar. A devilish smile danced on Judy's lips, stepping beside the merc before crouching in front of the pile of clothes, resuming the organization of the first load of laundry. Eyes side-glancing the other woman again.

"You want to admire the ceiling too or are you gonna help me with these? I didn't paint that, unfortunately." Judy chuckled, one gesture to grab a pair of shorts and hanging them on her arm.

"Y-yeah sure, sorry." V murmured, setting herself back into her previous position, her heart refused to slow down when she felt their shoulders gently touching, noticing smiles coming from the girl next to her with the corner of the eye.

After ten minutes or so, two big stacks of laundry sat on the washing machine, ready to finally pass through soap and water, but the two girls agreed to leave it be for that moment. V shot a last glance at Judy, eyebrows quickly frowning as she scanned her outfit, her signature black overall back on her body again.

"You uh...you gonna wear that?"

"Hm? Yeah, what's wrong with it?" 

"Oh nothing, just...it's going to be messy, and I'm not quite sure you're going to recover your overalls after."

The tip of Judy's ears tinted in various shades of red, dismissing the sinful fantasy vibes her brain picked up from those words with all of her mental strength. From a logical point of view, she _was_ in fact right but if the laundry in front of her could talk, it would have told her that everything else she had left in her wardrobe was there. Oh, also it would have shaken itself in disbelief.

I...I don't have any more clothes...for now at least."

V disappeared behind her back, a soft rustle accompanied her a few seconds later and she was back with a grey t-shirt, displaying a black text saying "Punk" and light-colored denim with a few ripped holes on a knee level to complete the outfit.

"Here, I had a second pair of clothes in the bag just in case, but I won't need them for sure."

Judy silently took the items, eyebrows shot upward in surprise but before she could protest V was already out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She delicately caressed the worn fabric. _Wearing V clothes too? Did I flatline in my sleep and got teleported into one of my personal mental BDs by a mysterious entity?_ a goofy smile didn't leave her face while she slipped into those warm, fresh clothes. One step out and V was already there, bags in hand and a pair of sunglasses sitting on her nose, smiling. Maybe it was indeed one of Judy's mental BDs after all. If only V said _"Let's get out of this city and fuck all"_ , maybe she would be totally fooled. But dreams are just dreams after all.

They both just smiled, maybe that silence could actually feel awkward to stranger ears but no necessary words were needed in that exchange, they just simply walked out of the flat to their ride parked outside. The original decision fell on Jackie's Arch to accompany them for the rest of the day, to add a little bit of bittersweet taste to everything, but they quickly realized that there wasn't enough space for the both of them, so the merc called her Brennan Apollo, which wasn't an upgrade in terms of seats but at least it had a handy top box equipped to throw the backpacks in. V handed over her only helmet to Judy, adjusting her frame on the smooth leathery seat, squishing and pressing herself as close to the metal as possible in order to make more room for the techie to sit behind her.

"You might wanna hold onto something, I have a terrible tendency of breaking speed limits." V sheepishly added, making the engine roar a couple of times. Judy mentally prepared for any type of incident that could follow the brief trip and instinctively linked her arms on V's stomach, wrapping her in a tight arm. The merc stomped every butterfly that popped in her stomach, trying to keep her heart on a leash as she brought the bike on asphalt. One loud roar and they both disappeared on the horizon, towards the skyscrapers.


	4. After Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title after [Mr. Kitty - After Dark]  
> I absolutely wanted to write some useless lesbians but damn, not THIS useless lol  
> Also...so much dialogue...
> 
> I'll leave the longer notes at the end!

There's something fascinating about Night City. To outsiders it's just a true gem of the world, a siren stranded on a rock in the middle of the ocean, singing at the top of her lungs to whoever willing to lend an ear and listen to her sweet melody. But as we all know, if you give in and surrender to her torture, she will just devour every single inch of your body, for either survival or pure amusement. That's what probably most would describe it; an alluring beauty made from neon flashing lights coming from the imposing screens, with dashing ads flickering on top of each other as they change every second; multiple urban landscapes tinted with saturated colors caressing your senses, blinding your eyes while pulling strings and drag you. The strategically placed Venus Flytrap in the middle of a rose garden. The promise of power at the snap of your fingers. A gold-plated crown of thorns ready to make you bleed for your human sins.

And yet, even in the coldest, thickest cement, even one tiny seed could make its way and open cracks that were never meant to be there.

The highway that morning was quite busy, usual cars driving from one mysterious place to another, gobbled by the loud and dense chaos at the core of the city. Nothing like an orchestra of irritating honks to wake you up in the morning.

One motorcycle zip zapped at unsafe speed between small spaces left by vehicles in the queue, its own roar of engines cut it's way past the shrill of confusion. As angry drivers were leaving no survivors to their storm of insults and furious hoking, V kept her eyes on the road and skillfully dodging the cars, not feeling like playing by the rules as she left a trail of angry people behind. One poor Judy, who sat behind her with arms firmly locked around her waist, was praying at whatever entity would listen to not end up like a synthetic hamburger patty splattered against the wall; even though, in all honestly, the thrill of speed made her skin crawl as it drowned in the adrenaline. It was fun and V handed traffic surprisingly well. God knows how many times she bolted through busy streets to be able to keep the situation under control, and without a helmet too, damn.

Luckily the commotion slowly died down as the bike slipped in an alley, ending up in a much quieter street. One line of asphalt divided several megabuildings, even though no vehicles seemed to dare disturb the silence that wrapped the place. There were a few people roaming around the various open-spaces, one guy was sipping a beer with a couple of other chooms on a stairway leading to one megabuilding entrance, one miserable old man with his face deep in the large garbage containers decorating the sidewalk. Judy let her sight wander around the umpteenth depressing landscape the city held. She quietly climbed down the bik as she reached to pick the bags in the top box.

"You want to leave the bike here?" Judy asked, sliding her head off the helmet.

"Don't worry, I'll tell the AI to bring it back to the garage." V replied while already putting her idea in action.

The AI obeyed the owner's command and steered the vehicle to its destination, meanwhile V already took some steppes toward her objective with Judy following her closely, eyeing the surroundings with caution. Silence soon got replaced by a faint chatter coming from some people occupying the entrance of one megabuilding. Topics like drugs, general laments and illegal traffics brushed Judy's ears, but her expression remained unbothered as she kept close distance with the merc walking in front of her, passing through two, three floors as the number of sketchy figures disappeared when they both stopped at the front door of an abandoned apartment.

"Where are we headed exactly?" Judy asked right after seeing V opening a double door, the carcass of what once was once a place to live in greeted the both of them.

Piles of rubble at every corner of those abandoned rooms, missing ceiling in some, holes in the walls in others. Oddly, some pieces of furniture were still in their original position not too much whithered by time, some tech like TVs were still working surprisingly; anyone could have trace the layout of the entire flat easily.

"Somewhere quiet" V replied as she kicked with her feet a few pieces of concrete out of the way, progressing further into the building.

"Will you explain to me what type of errands you were doing in a place like this?" The techie chuckled. Exploring those rooms was actually quite fun, even simple objects told a story of who once inhabited the place.

"Merc stuff. A guy stole some cyberpsychosis meds. Used my cards well and managed to just retrieve it with my head still on my neck. Dude decided to say goodbye to this cruel world on his own."

"Oh."

An awkward silence settled between them, disappearing shortly after when they ended their journey on the house balcony. It was quite a large one, the funny thing was the comfy furnished corner, equipped with a sofa and a couple of chairs around two concrete slabs on top of each other that served as table. Old vinyl, few pieces of trash and even two unlit candles rested on top of the concrete surface. Judy's eyes sailed around the balcony, making a disgusted face when she noticed a full trashcan between two metal boxes, completely infested with flies and roaches. _Well, and that's where the romantic vibe dies,_ she said to herself, but every thought was cut off when her sight landed on the breathtaking landscape presented to her. Countless skyscrapers massed on each other, every single one of them lit by either an enormous amount of windows or imponent neon signs and ad screens. There were lots of water between them and that side of the city. She stood there, watching in awe. Her feelings toward the megalopolis never changed as the years went by; always felt terribly out of place, no corner of that mass of skyscrapers ever felt like home to her but she would be lying if she said the city was indeed beautiful.

"Beautiful, eh?" V stepped next to her, her bag was already tossed on the probably filthy sofa but she didn't actually care.

"Yeah...this fucking city."

"Agreed." the merc chuckled softly with a hint of bitterness to it. "So...this is the place and this is the wall." she turned around, waving a hand to the empty wall behind them. Luckily the concrete was still intact, there were just a few pieces of thrash under it.

Judy snapped out of her train of thoughts, eyeing what the merc was showing before tossing her own bag on the sofa as well and unzippig it.

"So...how do you wanna do this? Have an idea or something?" she added, plucking out two worn brushes.

"I...I don't know honestly, let's just throw on it whatever we have. No strings, no plans." V followed her companion and emptied her backpack, moving pieces of trash and empty spray paint cans out of the way. She then reached on two short iron shelves beside the sofa, revealing three paint buckets. Red, Yellow and Blue.

"Where did you get them?" Judy shot a surprised look.

"Brought these here yesterday, took away half of today's work. I'll leave the honors to you." V couldn't quite decide what she was going for.

Open buckets were placed next to all the tools the two girls brought, making a very nice composition. Judy was far more than excited and didn't waste time to start the dance. With a large paint roller in one hand, she dipped it on the blue paint and the first thick stroke of paint was applied on the desaturated wall, giving it a bit more life. _Blue, of course._ The merc was watching her carefully a few steps behind; seeing that girl with a smile on her face completely immersed in her fantasy world made her heart warm, butterflies bursting again in her stomach. She tried to fight that feeling so much, with every fiber of her mental strength, but no matter how many years she spent successfully distancing herself from these mind games, it only took one nerd with green and pink hair and the sweetest personality to make her fortress crumble into dust. She shook her head in disbelief. _How can one regular person hold that much power? What changed?_

The dumb smile on V's face refused to fade away, the moment made her heart flutter so much she allowed the feeling to stay, _this one time._ So much staring made the nerd in question turn around with a puzzled look, a stain of blue paint colored her left cheek as she scratched the spot. _So cute._ The white-haired woman bit her lip trying to suffocate a laugh, quickly reaching for some spray cans and the blue bucket, mixing whatever she had to reach the desired hue into a random plastic bowl she brought. Once done she didn't bother to use a brush or anything else, instead she drowned her whole hand into the mixture. Two fingers touched the fresh blue paint on the wall, tracing random lines with fingertips and the whole surface of the hand's palm, blending the two colors together; a few minutes later Judy could already see where she was going. The flat, blue coat of paint suddenly became a window into a small deep-sea world, different shades of the same color suddenly gave more depth to it.

Another dumb smile, this time on Judy's face. _Oh we're going raw, I see I see_. Her mind started weaving a copious amount of possible images to paint on the wall but in the end she settled on the most familiar one. She discarded the blue-stained paint roller and took one cyan spray can. The attempt to recreate her mental image failed as soon as she used the tool, spraying too much and too close to the wall, making a lot of its content drip down the concrete.

" _Mierda._ " she bit her lip. "I never actually used one of these"

The merc took her attention away from the details she was adding, acknowledging the girl's struggle. Judy narrowed her eyes, taking up the challenge and refusing to give up, pointing the can's cap once again in the same place she messed up. She felt her body stiffen in a split second and her eyelids pulled back in full shock as her skin captured the warmth of a second body gently pressing against her own. One smooth hand with black nails overlayed itself on top of hers, gently grasping the spray can with it.

"Like this" V's velvet tone tickled Judy's ear, blushing furiously at the small distance between their faces.

One slow-motion driven by the merc as she silently taught the techie how to properly use the toolt. The green-haired nerd tried to focus and register every movement but V's body heat and those muscles flexing and unflexing completely sent her mind to another plane of existence. Luckily her chest beat so loud she couldn't feel V's heart racing at the same pace as hers. Judy's mind was violently brought to planet Earth as she felt V slowly taking a step back, assuring the other girl understood the procedure. The techie simply nodded, gulping a little bit of saliva as she followed what her teaches showed, successfully tracing a line without wasting too much paint.

"S-So. How did you start this hobby of yours?." Judy couldn't handle the awkward silence between them, not when she tried with all her energies to keep the turmoil in her head at bay. She hoped a small conversation about anything could help her.

"I was young, a cheap rebel hanging with a bunch of teens like me." V had her own turmoil to put at ease, half of her mind was occupied so she let pieces of information slip uncontrolled. "Situation at home wasn't the best. My parents fought a lot, sometimes their argument escalated so quickly they ended up throwing whatever they can at each other. Couldn't stand their yells and the noise so I slipped out of the house whenever I could. I was extremely lucky to have a group of friends who helped me in those rough situations, a bunch of punks and misfits who got tied together by difficult lives." the tone of her voice lowered a bit, brain rewinding events that she hoped she had forgotten.

"This was one of the things we used to do together when we felt like shit, just threw paint over stuff and scream like a bunch of junkies. Felt good, honestly." she didn't add much more after that, fingertips tapped in various points, leaving a few circles of light paint, trying to recreate bubbles floating in the water.

"They seemed like good friends" Judy slowly managed to carve from the wall the first part of a huge jellyfish.

"They were. I miss them."

"Where are they now?"

"Few of them in the Columbarium." a pause "Alex got out of Night City a long time ago, never heard from him since. Natalia joined Max-Tac after she found her boyfriend's corpse reduced in pieces by a cyberpsycho. Kayla and I never spoke again after I was forced to join Arasaka. Don't know where she is now."

"Kayla?" that was the only name that made a faint echo of jealousy caress Judy.

"My girlfriend at the time." V added, her expression unbothered as she shifted her focus on Judy's jellyfish. 

"You still love her?" those words slipped _too fast_ out of Judy's lips, she really wanted to torture herself that day huh?

"No." V shook her head. "It was a long time ago. Lots has changed after that...I changed."

Jealousy was quickly replaced by a wave of relief, a mental slap in the face flew across Judy's mind. _You fucking idiot, out of all things you really had to say that?!_

The merc stepped a few inches away from the techie, studying the fabulous creature half painted on the wall "That's good, you learn fast don't you?" she crossed her arms and shot a smirk to the girl in front of her, clearly proud of her teaching skills.

"I have a great teacher" Judy stuck her toungue out. "I just wish I could reach higher." her eyes scanned the place one more time trying to find something to use as ladder.

"That's no problem at all."

The second V finished what she was saying, Judy felt something pressing on her crotch and the top of her thighs simultaneously, her body felt lighter as her eyes fast transitioned to a higher perspective of the balcony; she almost lost her balance and grasped the first thing that would stop her from falling...which in that case happened to be V's face, her hands pressed so strongly to it so fast she managed to squeeze out a faint _Ow!_ from the other girl, hitting lightly her eyebrow with the handle of the brush she was holding. She sat on V's shoulder, still trying to adjust her balance.

"JESUS CHRIST V WHY DID YOU DO THIS WITHOUT TELLING ME!?" she yelled, the rush of fear made her lungs catch as much oxygen as she could. "Fuck, did I hurt you?"

"No no I'm fine. I...I should've told you. Sorry 'bout that." a sheepish grin covered the merc's lips. "Well.. see if you can reach it now."

The strong hands that held Judy's thighs could have served as an answer, but she decided to say her stupid question anyway. 

"Are you sure you can hold me for this long?"

V scoffed. "You're not as heavy as you think. Plus I'm trained don't worry."

The techie rolled her eyes with a small smile, she gently reached the spot she wanted and started adding some more details, trying to be as fast as she could. Sure, V was a strong lass but she still didn't want her to crush her poor spine. It took fifteen minutes and she was actually satisfied with the base, she patted the merc's head to signal she was ready to touch the ground with her feet again, mentally praying to separate V's head placed dangerously too close to her sensitive spot. V obeyed and with a strong grip she maintained the body on her shoulder firmly still as she slowly bent, making room for the other girl's feet to touch the ground. The techie managed to climb down in one piece...almost. It was maybe the rush to make some distance from their bodies, or just general human clumsiness, but Judy didn't see the piece of thrash laying next to her heel and absently took a step back as her balance betrayed her, landing her butt on the concrete.

V noticed a bit too late but she managed to at least rip away Judy's head from a terrible bump against the ground. For a stupid trick of destiny, balance betrayed her too as she felt her body landing on top of the woman she was trying to save with a loud _OOF!_ from them both

"I-I swear I'm rarely this clumsy." Judy blushed scratching her jawline, V's face way too close to her as she felt one strong hand at the back of her nack.

"Y-Yeah me too." V side-eyed Johnny's figure sat on the railing as he shook his head. _I'm gonna barf,_ he added.

The girl sat, trying to ignore the awkward feeling lingering in between. V gently reached for Judy's chin, holding it with two fingers as she checked the surface of her face. "You okay?" she then added with concerned eyes.

Judy stared at her with a poker face, her expression didn't communicate much but her head made a fully-fledged photoshoot of that image in a matter of seconds. Then her hand responded to an electrical impulse Judy swore didn't send, with a quick motion two of her fingers left a trail of blue paint on V's cheek. The gesture made the merc frown with immediate response, confusion plaster all over her face trying to read the techie's intention off her expression, but Judy stuck to her poker face still.

_Fuck you, you stupid gonk. Fuck you for continuously torturing my heart and making me feel like I'm on a fucking rollercoaster of unwanted feelings. I don't want to love you, you're just trouble and I should keep you out of my life as much as I can, but I fucking CAN'T because you're the sweetest person I ever met that makes me feel so good and you make me melt in a matter of second with those fucking smirks. And now I swear to God if I don't do something to ease my mind I will pin you to this bloody wall and fuck your brains out. My GOD you're a sadistic bitch. Fuck I really want to kiss you right now._

The sudden trail of conscience stormed into Judy's mind like a train at top speed ready to crash against the wall, not even she could fully understand what she was saying and WHY she was thinking it in that particular moment. If she actually said that stream of consciousness out loud there would be no more oxygen left in her lungs. Her eyebrows frowned a little.

"OW! What was _THAT_ for?" V was completely disarmed by the quick change of mood of the girl, replaying their brief conversation trying to find out if she actually did say something wrong. She wasn't used to feeling completely out of control.

Two sudden soft slaps landed on both of V's cheeks at once, leaving this time two other thick trails of mixed blue paint.

V blinked even more lost in confusion but she received no response from the other girl. Unsure what to do at first, she decided to play along.

"You certainly have a very weird way to thank me. I mean I could have forgiven you but you chose _war_." A fake angry tone came out of her lungs as she patted the floor to reach one particular tool, dipping her whole hand when she finally found the yellow paint bucket, trails of green paint tinted the original hue as it was mixed with various shades of blue that stuck to V's fingers.

Judy snapped out of her train of thoughts, the only thing that was completely aware of is V in front of her with a devilish smirk as she bolted her hand toward her face but the movement was so quick she didn't see it. Instead, the viscous consistency of paint landed quickly on her own cheek. The slap didn't hurt her physically but managed to wound her own pride just enough to answer back. Another quick movement, from Judy's hand this time, sent a few drops of red paint against the half-done artwork. The tranquility of that piece disturbed by childish games.

V felt half of her face dripping in paint as she tried to wipe her eye to clear her view. She felt so wrapped in the moment that she didn't even try to suffocate the hearty laugh her lungs naturally got out. It was...odd, the honest feeling of happiness caressed her after so long and it felt...good. Absolutely good. Her laugh was soon cut off when one devilish smile from the nerd in front of her entered her eyesight, falling on the two spray cans grasped between her hands. Her instinct immediately told the merc to run, but not without equipment. She grasped one tin can next to her and bolted inside the destroyed house. Judy was ready to open fire but she blinked when she saw V running away; determined to not let her companion win, she chased her prey into the building.

"Ma'am I'm gonna ask you to immediately drop your weapon and surrender." Judy's voice mixed with laughs jumped across the empty rooms, carefully roaming around the house with one cautious step after another. Damn the merc was fast.

"Oh, what for, _officer?_ " V's voice echoed from her hiding place, accidentally kicking one small rubble and sending a clue of her position to the other girl.

"For ruining this beautiful face." Ready to pounce, Judy approached the spot carefully trying to keep her giggles as quiet as possible, index fingers ready on the cap.

"Fuck, jail is actually premium treatment for this kind of crime."

One roll on the floor followed by a gust of dust rising in the air and V rolled out of her cover, pointing her own paint weapon and marking the enemy with a pink thick line on denim fabric. Judy had no time to plot her next move so she randomly fired gusts of paint in the air, not actually seeing where she was aiming since she shut her eyes and faced in another direction to protect what's left of her clean face.

Then a chase began when V decided to tease the nerd with little mocks and giggles, jumping above furniture in her way as Judy kept up with her speed, not wanting to lose that stupid game and wound her pride once more. The merc then ran in the balcony after having fun parkouring around the house two or three times; she was about to get back in but a string of heavy panting stopped her pace. Poor Judy stood next to the sofa, trying to catch as much oxygen as she could as she rested her tired arms on her knees.

"Fucking hell, how the fuck you still have stamina after that."

"Running a lot for a long time is part of the job. Sorry 'bout that, you okay?" V softly asked, placing a hand on her companion's shoulder as the poor girl's panting finally slowed down.

"Yeah, I think I'm fine."

"I think this one is absolutely gone." V lightly shook her can with a guilty giggle, the sound of paint against the tin material was very faint.

"These ones too" Judy mimicked her, putting the almost empty cans away and letting out her own giggle. "If you wanted to play with paint just like five years old you could've just said so."

"Hey, you're the one who started." The merc holds her hands up in the air in defense. "I guess...we can continue?" A sheepish smile ended the sentence and turned into a more happy one when the nerd nodded.

So they grabbed the tools left, splattering and carefully handling small brushes when it came to flesh out the details. They didn't really know what they wanted to go for, they just stood there and opened their heart and mind, pouring ideas, feelings, passions from the corners of their mind, not getting anything in the world silence their voice. Quick glances and small compliments never made that silence awkward, they just enjoyed each other's presence. It took ten hours to reach an image that was in an acceptable state, it was still rough around the edges and some details were still missing but they were satisfied already.

Numerous jellyfishes of various sizes floated in that large patch of blue on a sea of concrete, they used every color they had, making those peaceful creatures bathe in a skin of rainbow hue contrasting from the dark shades of blue under them; they were strange at first but their true beauty stood in its expression. Their direction curved toward the sky, like they wanted to break free from their natural form and explore new worlds with pure innocent curiosity. Between them various colored fish followed the group, tiny mouths emitting few happy bubbles and the little flora around them danced along with the others in a silent rhythm. Judy added a small shark shyly swimming around the environment too, because how could she not?

Sunlight slowly disappeared from the atmosphere and the two painters reluctantly decided to call it a day, partly because V's stomach demanded food after being two days apart from food, Judy's own stomach chimed in after a few minutes. They both laughed with a tinge of embarrassment.

"May I offer you dinner?" V stuffed the leftover tools in her bag.

"Nah V it's alright, you already offered me this beautiful day. I'm a big girl, I can pay for my stuff."

"No, please I insist. I...I really want to." a shade of red crept on V's cheek as her shy eyes jumped on the techie and the floor, not really prepared how to keep the conversation going after that.

What V didn't know is that Judy's brain shut down for a few seconds, trying to see if her heart was still there or it just exploded into a million butterflies and rainbows. She murmured "Alright alright, fine" with a light playful scoff as she threw herself on the first things to clean up, trying to hide her giant goofy smile as much as she could. V suddenly snapped her fingers, finally remembering one important thing.

"Wait. We forgot to do something."

Judy turned her back with a hum as she looked curiously at the white-haired woman, who was opening again two paint buckets. Her hand was engulfed in paint once again as the other urged the techie to do the same with the other bucket. The nerd obeyed, thinking what weird thing was stirring in the merc's mind again. V held her open hand high as she pressed the palm against Judy's one, mixing red and blue together. The size of their hands was the same. The scene played in slow motion as soon as the two locked eyes for what it felt like an eternity, then V motioned toward the wall still holding Judy's palm. Two purple handprints were created under the artwork.

"It was something we used to do to sign what we did. You and I shared our hearts to create something, so we shared this little thing too. It's silly but it means a lot." V's eyes were fixed on the two handprints with a blush on her cheek.

"That's...that's really beautiful." Judy did the same, treasuring that moment in her heart forever.

A few minutes later they left the building, trying to brush away the awkwardness with small comments of their artwork. Once call on the holo and the Apollo was back where it left the two girls. Neon lights washed over the bike silhouette on the road, Judy couldn't help but drown in that beautiful sight. She didn't have the time nor will to go around and take a walk around the streets, but that little tour really made her feel...at peace, sorrow stood silent for just for one day, and that's all she needed.

V decided to spend the rest of the evening eating at a fancy restaurant in Japantown. Judy felt a little unease as a few people shot confused glances at them. Well, they were almost completely covered by paint, even V's white hair turned almost into a rainbow, but the merc paid no attention to common folks around and headed to one table.

"I really could've settled for just greasy burger y'know?" Judy leaned on the table a little closer to V who was sitting in front of her, keeping her voice as low as she could trying not to be heard by the waiter who walked away with their orders.

"Nonsense. It has been two days since I last ate and a full week since I had this much time for myself, I deserve the full relaxation package. Plus you're my special guest, It's my duty to spoil you."

The smirk on V's lips and the last sentence combined made Judy's face burning for what it felt like the millionth time that day, but she decided to sweep it under the rug and flirt back this time.

"Oh, I'm special huh?" the techie collected all her sex appeal trying to shot a smirk back.

"Of course, you're a priceless diamond in this shitty city." the look V gave her didn't quite hold a high amount of flirty tone, it was more like a confession.

Judy hid half of her face with a hand before speaking again. "You know how to talk to a woman, don't you?"

"Only the ones I lik-"

The waiter cut whatever V was saying, placing _a lot_ of plates on the table before rushing to another. Judy looked at the enormous amount of food. _I certainly didn't order this much._ Then she glanced at the merc, already stuffing her mouth with the first plate she had under her nose. _Cute_. She thought while grasping one bowl and gulped the content like a hungry shark.

Time flew by as they ate dinner in peace. V decided to entertain her guest with a few crazy stories from her job mixing a few jokes and teases as Judy answered the most stupid ones by throwing a tiny piece of food at her. Both of them were almost brought to tears by laughter, V was finally comfortable enough around the techie to act more like herself and not like an absolute edgelord. It felt good to just be yourself, to be understood, to feel at peace even just for a while. With bellies about to explode with how much food they ate, V brought her guest back to her apartment. They stood in the parking lot to chat a few minutes more before they ran out of topics.

"Well, I guess that's it then." Judy smiled, not knowing the proper way to close the situation. "Thank you so much V, it felt...good. I really needed this. I owe you."

V didn't answer with words, instead she wrapped her arms around her, tightening after a few seconds and burying her face in the crook of Judy's neck. The merc's breath on her skin made the muscles in the techie's body to stiffen but managed to hug her back.

"It's me who has to thank you. Really I...I forgot the time I felt this at peace with the world. Thank you for making me company today. Can't wait to do this again." V's head then gently shifted her position to make sure both their foreheads were touching.

They stood in silence once again, still holding as they both drowned in each other's eyes. Soon the tip of Judy's nose ghosted on V's one, lips almost touching as she couldn't resist the urge any longer. Breaths mixing, hearts racing in synch as the tip of two upper lips touched...sadly a terrible ring from V's holo shut the mood down. They both snapped out of their trance, cursing mentally so much at the interruption that even if they spoke out loud half of the words the world would fall down. V answered with an irritated voice, ready to bark at whoever was on the other side, but eased her tone a little when she heard Panam's voice updating her with the details for their next mission, urging her to be where she was as fast as she could. She closed the call, looking at the other girl in embarrassment.

"I...sorry I have to go." V scratched the back of her neck. "See you next time?"

Judy smiled, cupping both of the merc's cheek in one move and landed a little peck on the corner of her mouth.

"Sure." Judy smirked flirtatiously as she walked to the building's door, purposely swinging her hips, feeling V's eyes on her.

 _Fuck._ V passed her palm on her face as she let her body loose on the seat of the Apollo, she still wasn't completely out of Judy's spell. _I...I think I'm in love._

\----

Five days have passed since their little vacation. V had her face shamelessly glued to her phone every single minute talking to Judy through text, her mind replaying the romantic moment with Judy again and again. _You're not even together and you're already whipped._ Johnny's voice echoed. One scoff was all it took to shut him.

The merc was on her way to her next job but one particular call made her furiously hit the brakes of her car as hard as she could, making heavy tire marks on the asphalt. She answered as fast as she could, blowing away the terrible burned rubber smell in the air.

"Jude, hey. How are you?"

"Hey V. Oh y'know, same old. You?"

"I'm good, I think I just broke my car."

"Well glad to hear that, why am I not surprised?" Judy's giggles poked the merc's heart way too much. V murmured something incomprehensible.

"Listen, I got a favor to ask you." the techie kept going.

"Anything you need, I'm here. It's never boring with you."

"Interesting people aren't easily bored."

"No chance in your company. Now tell me please don't keep teasin' me."

"Alright alright." another giggle "You're on a need-to-know basis. So, this particular mission don't require you to have no gun. Just a wetsuit."

"A wetsuit...I'm finally going to be a majestic jellyfish toor?" this time V let out a chuckle.

"I told you can't say much, it's a surprise. Meet me at the abandoned bungalow on the lakeside past Rancho Coronado, at sundown."

"Of course, I will be there. See ya later."

The call was closed and V's heart jumped rhythmically as she couldn't stop her brain from overheating. Luckily her car wasn't completely dead so she kept going to her original objective once again, humming a random tune as she tried to contain her excitement.

Yeah, she was definitely in love, even though she couldn't shake that small voice pleading not to continue this nonsense. What will the future hold?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand that should wrap it up I guess! Thank you so much for reading! I am physically incapable of writing short things apparently, so I tried not to fall into details too much with this chapter and ending up writing a book...  
> I also wanted to thank each and every one of you who left kudos and comments, it really, really means a lot! You make me blush and my heart flutter (ﾉ∀`♥)  
> I will close this story for now, I don't think I have any more inspiration left for this. What I do know is that I probably won't stop here on writing about Judy and V, because I love them *sob*  
> So that should be it I guess, I will see ya around! Tiger, out! (･∀･)


End file.
